Reformed dad now wants to help others

Marvin Charles knows a few things about picking up the pieces of a squandered life.

He was a drug addict for 25 years who finally decided to go clean in the late 1990s, just as the courts were threatening to strip him of custody of his four young children permanently.

But Charles, who turns 48 today, is now drug-free, stable and in charge of a community group that helps other struggling dads rebuild their families.

His organization, Divine Alternatives for Dads Services (or DADS), will host a private celebration of fatherhood tonight to honor seven struggling men who have beaten the odds and now stand as responsible parents themselves.

The Seattle Times first reported on Charles and his family in December 2001, because his kids had been cared for at Childhaven, an agency that receives donations through the newspaper's Fund for the Needy giving campaign.

Charles and his wife, Jeanett, also a recovered addict, were already putting their lives back together at that point. They started DADS in late 1999; earlier that year, Atlantic Street Center, another family support agency, had given the Charleses a Family of the Year Award, and Charles said he knew he needed to pass on the blessings.

"I remember saying to myself, 'Man, 14 months ago I was a crack addict, and now I'm receiving an award for Family of the Year,' " Charles recalls. "I said to myself, 'Look where I'm at today. I want to create some of that same euphoria for other guys.' "

First and foremost, DADS offers moral support to fathers who face the uphill climb toward stability.

Some have criminal backgrounds and fear appearing before judges. Others are on the fence and simply need that extra nudge to take the right steps for their families, Charles said. DADS workers also accompany fathers to child-custody hearings and attend meetings with social workers. They help fathers apply to substance-abuse programs, seek drug-testing and enroll in parenting classes.

DADS, a nonprofit agency, is still a small operation with only Marvin and Jeanett as employees. It has worked with about 160 men, and funding comes from donations and earnings from Charles' day jobs (he's the coordinator for fatherhood programs at First AME Church in Seattle). Washington Mutual Bank recently gave DADS $2,500 to upgrade the organization's computer system, Charles said.

The organization's work has attracted admirers, though. Former Gov. Booth Gardner and KCPQ-TV's Tony Ventrella are scheduled to appear at tonight's banquet at New Holly Gathering Hall in South Seattle.

Among the benefactors and fathers who will be honored at the event is a man who Charles recently discovered is his biological uncle. The man has kicked a drug addiction and now works for a Seattle department store. He was recently granted custody of two nieces; his own children are now grown.

Another honoree once owed $133,000 in late child-support payments and had spent time in prison, Charles said. DADS has helped the man negotiate a smaller child-support debt, and he's part of his children's lives again.

"What we realized was there was no support mechanism to help you walk through those hurdles," Charles said. "That's where we come in."

His hope is that word of mouth will spread the message that DADS is at least one place troubled fathers can turn when they want to start over.

Tyrone Beason: 206-464-2251 or tbeason@seattletimes.com